In a letter published September 12 by national daily La Repubblica, Di Segni, known for his very cautious attitude toward interreligious dialogue and his insistence on mutually recognized limits, said, “This Pontificate does not cease to surprise.”

He was referring to an article written by the pope and published September 11 in La Repubblica in response to challenging questions asked by Eugenio Scalfari, the paper’s cofounder and former editor, and a self-proclaimed “nonbeliever.”In his published letter, Di Segni noted that while Francis’s words are not new but, rather, inherent to Christianity and confirmed by Vatican II, “it is the force with which he expresses them and his capacity of communicating them that is astounding. The fact that Judaism is the holy root of Christianity is fundamental, but many theological currents, especially in Protestantism, have tried to belittle them. In opposing these currents, Francis is coherent to the teaching of Benedict. Especially noteworthy is his expression of gratitude to Jews for their devotion in faith.”

Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 20:16 UTCPope’s meets with the father of liberation theology; Vatican media praises the Peruvian priest

Pope Francis' September 11 meeting with Dominican Father Gustavo Gutierrez was an informal one, held in the in the pope's residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and not listed on his official schedule., reports the Catholic News Service. However the news that Pope Francis had received the 85-year old Peruvian priest, who is widely considered the father of liberation theology, has excited interest far beyond the Vatican's walls.

During the 1990s, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith conducted a lengthy critical review of Father Gutierrez's work, and required him to write and rewrite articles clarifying some of his theological and pastoral points.

But within a single week in early September 2013, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an interview with Father Gutierrez, an article by the theologian himself, and two articles praising his work -- one of them by the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard L. Muller.

Following years of Vatican criticism of liberation theology under John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, these events might seem to indicate a reversal of policy under Pope Francis. It would be more accurate to say they represent the fruit of a long and painful process, through which the church has clarified the nature of its commitment to the world's poor today.

2013-09-16 12:08:38 Pope Francis: Christians must pray for their leaders

(Vatican Radio) Humility and love are indispensable traits of those who govern, while citizens, especially if they are Catholic, cannot be indifferent to politics. That was Pope Francis’ message this morning during his daily Mass at Santa Marta, as he called for prayers for those in authority.

The Gospel of the centurion who, with humility and confidence, asks for the healing of his servant; and the letter of Saint Paul to Timothy with the invitation to pray for those who govern, inspired the Pope to “reflect on the service of authority.” Those who govern, Pope Francis said, “have to love their people,” because “a leader who doesn’t love, cannot govern – at best they can discipline, they can give a little bit of order, but they can’t govern.” The Pope considered David, “how he loved his people,” so much that after the sin of the census he asked the Lord not to punish the people, but [to punish] him. These, then, are “the two virtues of a leader”: love for the people and humility.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday morning met for over two hours with priests from the Diocese of Rome.

The private meeting, an annual event that takes place in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, was a moment of greetings and exchange.

After the Vicar General of Rome, Cardinal Agostino Vallini delivered his welcoming speech, the Pope addressed the clergy and then took time to answer the many questions they put to him.

His first words to his brother priests were words of encouragement and closeness.

Listen to Linda Bordoni's report... RealAudioMP3

Speaking off the cuff to bishops, vicars, priests and deacons, Pope Francis said the Church needs “shepherds of the people, not clerics of the State”. Dipping into a letter he had written to his priests when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2008, a year after the Aparecida Conference, and that he used as a text upon which to reflect in the lead-up to this encounter, the Pope said “a priest belongs to the people of God” and he reminded priests never to lose their identity which is in communion with the Holy Spirit, because without the Holy Spirit – he said - “we are in danger of losing our way in the understanding of faith”, and run the risk of ending up disoriented and self-referenced.

(Vatican Radio) The Church has the courage of a woman who defends her children, in order to bring them to encounter her Spouse. This was one of the main focal points of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings at Mass on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Domus sanctae Marthae in the Vatican. The Pope also reflected on the encounter between Jesus and the widow of Naim, saying that the Church herself is, in history, walking in search of her Lord. Listen: RealAudioMP3

Jesus has, “the capacity to suffer with us, to be close to our sufferings and make them His own,” said Pope Francis, who began his reflections with the encounter between Jesus and the widow of Naim, of which Tuesday’s Gospel reading tells. He pointed out that Jesus, “had great compassion” for this widow who had now lost her son. Jesus, he went on to say, “knew what it meant to be a widow at that time,” and noted that the Lord has a special love for widows, He cares for them.” Reading this passage of the Gospel, he then said, that the widow is, “an icon of the Church , because the Church is in a sense widow”:

“Sanctity is stronger than scandal”. This was the message Pope Francis extended to Rome’s parish priests at a meeting in St. John the Lateran this morning, the Diocese of Rome’s weekly newspaper RomaSette reports. The Pope asked for this meeting straight after his election. The meeting took place between 10 and 12.30 and was introduced by Vicar Agostino Vallini, followed by a question and answer session between the Pope and the priests.The Pope told priests they should welcome couples that live together and championed the courageous and creative choices involved in going out to the “existential peripheries”, RomaSette says in its article. But the truth factor is crucial here. “The truth must always be told,” not just in the dogmatic sense of the world but in the sense of “love and God’s fullness”. The priest must “accompany” people.

Francis referred to some experience he had in Buenos Aires as examples of creativity. For example, when some churches were kept open around the clock, with confessors or “personal courses” available for couples who want to marry but can’t attend a prenuptial course because they work till late. The “existential peripheries” are the priority. These also refer to the kinds of family contexts Benedict XVI often talked about, for example second marriages. Our task is to “find another way, the just way,” Francis said.

Francis concluded his meeting with the Roman clergy by addressing the issues surrounding the annulment of a marriage, a subject that was very important to Benedict XVI. Francis said proposals have been put forward and research is currently underway. The group of eight cardinals and the next Synod of Bishops will discuss this issue in October, Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano reports.

“The problem cannot be reduced to whether” these couples “are allowed to take communion or not because whoever thinks of the problem in these terms doesn’t understand the real issue at hand,” Francis said. “This is a serious problem regarding the Church’s responsibility towards families that are in this situation.” Francis reiterated what he said on the return flight from Rio to Rome after World Youth Day, saying he will be discussing the issue with the group of eight cardinals who will be meeting in the Vatican in early October. Francis added that the issue will also be discussed at the next Synod of Bishops on the Gospel’s anthropological relationship with individual people and the family, so that the whole Synod can look into this problem. “This,” Francis said “is a real existential periphery”.

2013-09-18 12:28:13Audience: Pope continues catechesis on Church as our Mother

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis returned to the theme of the "Church as our Mother"during his audience catechesis on Wednesday. The Pope’s English language remarks were read out at the Audience.Dear Brothers and Sisters: today I wish to return to the image of the Church as our Mother, by reflecting on all that our earthly mothers do, live and suffer for their children. First, our mothers show us, through their tenderness and love, the correct path to follow in life, so that we may grow into adulthood. So too the Church orients us on the path of life, indicating the way that leads to maturity. Second, our mothers know how and when to accompany us with understanding through life and to help lead us back when we wonder off the right path. The Church also accompanies us in mercy, in understanding, never judging us or closing the door, but offering forgiveness to help us return to the right course. Third, as our mothers never grow tired of interceding for us, no matter our failings, so too the Church stays with us always and, through prayer, puts into the hands of the Lord all our situations, difficulties and needs.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis Wednesday during his weekly General Audience called on Catholics together with other Christians to continue to pray for peace in the most troubled parts of the world. He made the appeal ahead of the "International Day of Peace," celebrated on September 21st. Below is a Vatican Radio English translation of the Pope’s words. Listen to Lydia O'Kane's report RealAudioMP3

Each year, on September 21, the United Nations celebrates the "International Day of Peace," and the World Council of Churches is calling on its members to pray on that day for peace. I invite Catholics from around the world to join with other Christians to continue to ask God for the gift of peace in the most troubled parts of our planet.

2013-09-19 14:08:44 Details of Pope Francis' visit to Sardinia on Sunday September 22nd

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis heads to Cagliari on the Italian island of Sardinia this Sunday (September 22nd) for a pastoral visit that includes celebrating mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria. The Pope announced in May that he wished to visit the Marian Shrine of Bonaria or “Good Air” because it gave his hometown of Buenos Aires its name.

During his 10-hour visit to the city of Cagliari, the Pope will also meet workers, business representatives, prisoners, the poor, young people, leading representatives from the world of culture and the island’s Catholic bishops.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Algirdas Butkevičius. A communiqué from the Press Office of the Holy See says the Pope and the Prime Minister used their colloquy to discuss a number of issues of regional and global import, as well as to highlight the good relations between the parties. Below, please find the full text of the Communiqué

(Vatican Radio) Details of an upcoming conference on Catechism were presented Thursday at the Holy See Press Office. The International Conference of Catechesis is being organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization as part of ongoing events for the Year of Faith.

There will also be a Day for Catechists which will run from the 28-29 September.

As part of the lead up to the three day Conference a new Catholic Church Catechism App for Tablet and Smartphone was launched at the press event.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received new Bishops from around the world in audience today in Rome. The audience marked the end of the annual Conference for New Bishops, which provides formation and orientation for men who have been elevated to the episcopate each year.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and Cardinal Leonardi Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches were also in attendance at the Conference, along with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Archbishop of Manila.

In his address to the new Bishops, Pope Francis said the worldwide episcopate forms a “unique body” that gives direction to the Bishops in their daily work and presses them to ask themselves “how to live the spirit of collegiality and collaboration in the Episcopate? how to be builders of communion an unity in the Church the Lord has entrusted” to them. He reminded them that “the Bishop is a man of communion and unity, the ‘visible principle and foundation of unity’ (Lumen gentium, 27).”

(Vatican Radio) In a lengthy personal interview, published in Jesuit magazines around the world on Thursday, Pope Francis talks frankly about himself, his Jesuit background and his vision for a more open, inclusive and welcoming Church.The publication is the result of three private meetings that the Pope held with the head of the Italian Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, Fr Antonio Spadaro, in August at the Santa Martha guesthouse in the Vatican.

Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look.....Listen: RealAudioMP3

In the first part of the interview, the Pope shares personal insights and difficult moments from his past, including a fear of being seen as ‘ultraconservative’ on account of his ‘authoritarian way’ of making quick decisions. Recalling problems he encountered as a Church leader in Argentina, the Pope speaks of lessons learnt, especially the importance of consultation and a more effective form of Synodal governance. This, he says, will also bring a breath of fresh air to the ecumenical movement.

(CNN) - Pope Francis said the church has the right to express its opinions but not to "interfere spiritually" in the lives of gays and lesbians, expanding on explosive comments he made in July about not judging homosexuals.

In a wide-ranging interview published Thursday, the pope also said that women must play a key role in church decisions and brushed off critics who say he should be more vocal about fighting abortion and gay marriage.

Moreover, if the church fails to find a "new balance" between its spiritual and political missions, the pope warned, its moral foundation will "fall like a house of cards."

The interview, released by Jesuit magazines in several different languages and 16 countries on Thursday, offers perhaps the most expansive and in-depth view of Francis' vision for the Roman Catholic Church.

On WomenFrancis said, emphatically, that the "door is closed," on women's ordination, a statement that disappointed many Catholic liberals.

But that doesn't mean the church should consider women secondary or inferior, Francis said. "The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions," he told Spadora.

Francis also called on Catholics to think hard about the function of women in the church.

"Women are asking deep questions that must be addressed," the pope said. "The church cannot be herself without the woman and her role."

On Homosexuality When Francis was a bishop in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he received letters from gays and lesbians who said they were "socially wounded" by the church, he said.

"But the church does not want to do this," Francis said in the interview.

The pope then recalled his comments in July, when he told the media aboard a flight to Rome, "Who am I to judge" gay people?

MORE ON CNN: Pope Francis on gays: 'Who am I to judge?'

"By saying this, I said what the catechism says," the pope told Spadaro. The catechism, the Catholic Church's book of official doctrine, condemns homosexual acts, but says gays and lesbians "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity."

"Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person."

Francis said that someone once asked him if he "approved" of homosexuality.

"I replied with another question," he said. "`Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being."

Abortion, gay marriage and contraception Some American Catholics grumble that Francis has been largely silent on signature Catholic political issues.

"I’m a little bit disappointed in Pope Francis that he hasn’t, at least that I’m aware of, said much about unborn children, about abortion, and many people have noticed that," Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, said earlier this month.

Francis said that he's aware of the criticism, but he is not going to change.

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods," he told his Jesuit interviewer. "I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that."

But the pope said the church's teachings on those issue are clear, and he clearly believes in those teachings, so what else is there to say?

"It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time," Francis said.

False prophets and quick decisionsOnly false prophets claim to have all the answers, Francis said.

"The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt," he said. "You must leave room for the Lord."

But church leaders, including himself, haven't always practiced humility, the pope admitted.

Many of the bad decisions he made while leading Catholics in Argentina came about because of his "authoritarianism and quick manner of making decisions," the pope said.

That won't happen again, Francis said, as he begins to steer the church in a new direction.

He didn't offer an exact course, but he said change will come. Sooner or later.

"Many think that changes and reforms can take place in a short time," he said. "I believe that we always need time to lay the foundations for real, effective change. And this is the time of discernment."

Editor’s Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal. Father Spadaro conducted the interview on behalf of La Civiltà Cattolica, America and several other major Jesuit journals around the world. The editorial teams at each of the journals prepared questions and sent them to Father Spadaro, who then consolidated and organized them. The interview was conducted in Italian. After the Italian text was officially approved, America commissioned a team of five independent experts to translate it into English. America is solely responsible for the accuracy of this translation. This interview is copyrighted by America Press and cannot be used, except for brief quotations, without written permission.

The love of money is the root of all evil: that stark warning contained in St Paul’s first letter to Timothy was at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily at his morning Mass in Santa Marta on Friday.

Reflecting on the way in which greed can corrupt our hearts and weaken our faith, the Pope stressed we can never serve God and money at the same time. Money, the Pope went on, sickens our minds, poisons our thoughts, even poisons our faith, leading us down the path of jealousy, quarrels, suspicion and conflict. While money begins by offering a sense of wellbeing, if we are not careful wealth can quickly lead to vanity, self-importance and the sin of pride

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday received members of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations who are in Rome on the occasion of their 10th International Conference on Catholicism and Maternal Healthcare. Lydia O’Kane reports RealAudioMP3

Following a greeting to conference participants, Pope Francis went on to address those gathered in three succinct points.

Firstly, he described what he called the paradoxical situation facing the medical profession today. On the one hand, the Pope said we see the progress of medicine, and those dedicated to the search for new cures.

But, on the other hand, he noted, there is the danger that a doctor might lose his identity as a servant of life. Pope Francis explained, that “if you lose the personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.” He continued by saying that the acceptance of life strengthens moral fiber, before adding that the final objective of the doctor is always the defense and promotion of life.

In his second point, the Holy Father underlined that "the first right of the human person is his life”. He spoke of a “culture of waste”, which he said, now enslaves the hearts and minds of many. The cost of this, he continued, is the elimination of human beings, especially if they are physically or socially weaker. The Pope stressed that every child that is not born, but unjustly condemned to be aborted and very elderly person who is sick or at the end of his life bears the face of Christ.

The Pope also underlined the important role Gynecologists have which requires study, a conscience and humanity.

In his third and final point the Holy Father said the mandate of Catholic doctors is “to be witnesses and promoters of the "culture of life". The Lord, he said is counting on you to spread the "Gospel of life."

Vatican City — Pope Francis offered an olive branch of sorts to the doctrine-minded, conservative wing of the Catholic Church on Friday as he denounced abortion as a symptom of today’s “throw-away culture” and encouraged Catholic doctors to refuse to perform them.

Francis issued a strong anti-abortion message and cited Vatican teaching on the need to defend the unborn during an audience with Catholic gynecologists.

It came a day after he was quoted as blasting the church’s obsession with “small-minded rules” that are driving the faithful away and urging it focus instead on being merciful and welcoming — an interview that has sent shock waves throughout the church.

Even before the interview was published, conservatives had voiced disappointment that Francis had shied away from restating church rules on such hot-button issues as abortion, homosexuality and gay marriage. Francis explained his reason for doing so in the interview with the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, saying church teaching on such issues is well-known, he supports it, but that he doesn’t feel it necessary to repeat it constantly.

He did repeat that message on Friday, however. In his comments, Francis denounced today’s “throw-away culture” that justifies disposing of lives, and said doctors in particular had been forced into situations where they are called to “not respect life.”

“Every child that isn’t born, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord,” he said.

Cardinal Dolan: Pope Is "Asking for a Fresh Strategy"Pope Francis said in an interview published this week that the church was obsessed by "small-minded rules"Friday, Sep 20, 2013 | Updated 10:01 AM EDT

Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Pope Francis' remarks that the Catholic Church had become obsessed by "small-minded rules" was a welcome and positive message he plans to carry forward.

Dolan, archbishop of New York, said on the "TODAY" show Friday that Francis is "getting back to the roots, he's going back to the gospel."

"I'm listening to him. He's asking for a fresh strategy," Dolan said. "I think what he's saying is sometimes if we come across as negative, as complaining too much, we lose the folks. We've got to be positive, we've got to be fresh, we've got to be affirming... I think he's on to something. He's a good teacher."